On 18.01.2010, at 20:51, Benjamin Ragheb wrote: > I know the basic stuff: make it easy to spell, avoid foreign language curse > words, positive sounding, etc. There are ton of generic "how to name your > business" articles on the web. I'd like to hear more specific to indie > software. > > For what it's worth, I'm do a mix of product sales and consulting. I have a > name or two in mind, but my sounding boards (all non-programmers) are never > enthused by the names I like, and then they make suggestions that I think are > just terrible. > > + Do you have any naming advice particular to a software business?
You already have the right idea: Look for obvious snafus (including your domain name -- pen island wasn't very happy with their penisland.com domain, it seems, they've since sold it), but don't obsess. In the end, a company name is an arbitrary character combination that is defined by what *you* do. > + If your name is too "cute", will potential clients not take you seriously? > + If your name is too "conservative", will potential clients not remember > your name? > + Does it really matter? Or is the name whatever you make it? (I remember > "iPod" sounded really weird the first time I heard it.) I don't think it matters. The bigger issue here is: Are you too cute or too conservative? Try to find something that reflects the way you are. If someone is unprofessional, the most professional name will not save them. So I'd say: Don't obsess about the name. Pick whatever name you'd like hearing all day long. The Void is a programming in-joke. As such, it will not mean much to my customers. It ties in nicely with the "Masters of the Void" tutorial web site, creating a kind of brand connection (over two completely unrelated projects which probably won't have much overlap??? Oh well). I'm well aware of the possibility of jokes that people could make by relating this name to my work, but honestly, pretty much every name can be used that way. I work for companies where the name is a slight modification of the place the companies were founded in, very popular companies and products were named after children and grandchildren of the founders, or simply after the flagship product... So, IMO, it doesn't matter. Pick something you're happy with that has the domain name still available (and doesn't have a porn site on a similarly-spelled domain), and get going. Cheers, -- Uli Kusterer Sole Janitor http://www.the-void-software.com
